Winemaking at Domaine de Cambis
From grape to wine: the most delicate and technical stage of the year. At Domaine de Cambis, each cuvée is patiently crafted in the cellar built in 2017 in Berlou.
From grape to wine: the decisive step
Winemaking is the most delicate and technical stage of the wine year. Everything happens during this two-to-three-month period from the start of the harvest. This often begins in early September and can extend until late November, or even mid-December in some years.
From the beginning of the process, Martin must decide the direction for each cuvée. An oenologist accompanies the Domaine throughout the process, based on the analyses they have performed.
Winemaking differs depending on whether it is a red, white, or rosé wine. Each type of wine follows its own path, dictated by the nature of the fruit and the character desired for it.
The production of white and rosé wines
The harvest usually begins with picking white grapes for white wines, followed by black grapes intended for rosé. The production of these two wines differs completely from that of red wines.
As soon as the grapes are picked — early in the morning to keep them fresh — they are destemmed then directly pressed, put into vats, and cooled. Lowering the wine's temperature for a few days facilitates the settling of lees (fragments of stems and skins) and their removal.
Then begins the alcoholic fermentation: the transformation of sugar into alcohol by yeasts. When this is complete, the team performs one or more rackings to eliminate the gross lees (fermentation residues, yeasts), while retaining the fine lees for aging the wine. This aging on fine lees for a few weeks to a few months gives the wine its roundness.
After a few weeks in tanks where the wines are monitored — with bâtonnage (stirring) as needed to suspend the fine lees and promote lees/wine exchange — the wine is filtered, then bottled after a few more months in tanks.
Unlike red wines, the blends of whites and rosés are decided at the time of harvest: the grapes are picked according to this choice.
The production of red wines
For the production of a red wine, the first step is parcel selection: determining which grapes from which parcel will go into which tank to produce which cuvée.
The grapes are destemmed to remove the rachis — the vegetative part of the bunch — to avoid extracting vegetal tannins. They are then put into concrete tanks by gravity.
Alcoholic fermentation begins. During this period, the team performs daily pump-overs: pumping the juice over the top of the tank, onto the cap, to homogenize the tank. The tank remains on the pomace (with the grapes) for two to three weeks, to extract a maximum of aromas and color.
At the end of this period, the wine is run off to press the pomace. The press juices, in which there is still sugar, are stored separately to finish their fermentation. As with white wines, several rackings allow the removal of gross lees and the retention of fine lees for aging.
At the same time, malolactic fermentation begins: this second fermentation will allow the wine to stabilize and round out by reducing perceived acidity.
While the wine finishes its aging in tanks, the blends are decided by tasting for the different cuvées. Once blended, the wines finish their aging in tanks for approximately 7 additional months, then are bottled about a year after their harvest.
Concrete tanks, and wood aging only when it makes sense
A claimed particularity of the Domaine: the wines are fermented in concrete tanks, not in oak barrels.
Why this choice? The short size of the Domaine's vines reduces yields, which naturally increases the tannin composition of the fruits. Wood aging of the wines is therefore not necessary: the terroir and the work in the vineyard are enough to give the wines their structure.
The only exception to this rule is Carnet de Voyage, aged in oak barrels for 12 months. This makes it a great aging wine, which received a 3-star distinction and the Coup de Cœur (Favorite) from the Guide Hachette des Vins 2024 for the 2021 vintage.
Winemaking in service of the terroir
At Domaine de Cambis, the goal of winemaking is simple: to faithfully transmit the expression of the Berlou terroir and the work of the vines into the bottle. No artifice, no over-oaking. The concrete breathes but preserves, and each cuvée bears the signature of the schists.